1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to wireless communications and more particularly to updating time and location information from a mobile device.
2. Related Art
With the ever-increasing use of mobile phones and devices, users desire such devices to have more and more capability other than conventional phone use. One area that is evolving is transfer of data through the phone. A recent development, called Bump™ developed by Bump Technologies, Inc., uses the near simultaneous movement of two devices in close proximity to effect a transfer of contact information. When a transfer is desired between a first device and a second device, both devices are shaken or moved, such that the movement is detected by each device, e.g., with an accelerometer within the device. Once detected, the device transmits location information, such as by a GPS unit or other location service unit within the device, to a server. The server processes the location information and determines whether another device at approximately the same location transmitted location information at approximately the same time. This may be accomplished by comparing time stamps from devices within a certain area. If the server detects more than two devices within an acceptable time period and within an acceptable distance from each other, the devices may be sent a message asking them to be shaken or moved again. This situation may arise in a crowded conference room where multiple users are trying to initiate a transfer with different parties.
Once two devices have been identified, each device is notified that a connection has been established and is asked whether it wants to exchange information with the other device (or more accurately, the user of the other device). If the user confirms the exchange, contact information is transmitted, creating a new contact or revising an old contact on the device. Users may define what contact information to exchange, such as email address, mailing address, and/or phone number.
As a result, users having mobile devices can exchange contact information without having to manually enter the information into the device. However, Bump™ is currently only used for exchanging user contact information. There may be different situations where Bump™ can be used, either alone or with other technologies, to improve the user experience with mobile devices or phones.